Assessment method

Abstract

A method of assessing the viability of a cell comprises incubating the cell in a culture medium. The culture medium includes a plurality of amino acids and the change in concentration in the medium of at least one amino acid is determined.

1. A method of assessing the ability of a mammalian egg to fertilize and/or develop to a blastocyst stage, said method comprising:
 (i) incubating a mammalian egg in a culture medium comprising a plurality of amino acids; 
 (ii) determining an increase or decrease in concentration of at least one amino acid in the culture medium to determine amino acid turnover; and 
 (iii) selecting the mammalian egg in the culture medium of step (ii); wherein said culture medium has a higher or lower concentration of the at least one amino acid, said higher or lower concentration of the at least one amino acid being an indicator of increased potential for fertilization and/or development to the blastocyst stage. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the culture medium comprises Earle's Balanced Salt solution supplemented with glucose, L-lactate, pyruvate and a physiological mixture of amino acids. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the assessment of the ability of the mammalian egg to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage is achieved in 24 hours or less after transfer of the mammalian egg into the culture medium. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the assessment of the ability of the mammalian egg to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage is achieved in 10 hours or less after transfer of the mammalian egg into the culture medium. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the assessment of the ability of the mammalian egg to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage is achieved in 6 hours or less after transfer of the mammalian egg into the culture medium. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the mammalian egg is derived from a mammal selected from the group consisting of humans, cows, pigs, and sheep. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the mammalian egg is derived from a human. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 6 , wherein the mammalian egg is derived from a cow. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one amino acid is selected from the group consisting of alanine, cysteine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, glycine, histidine, isoleucine, lysine, leucine, methionine, asparagine, proline, glutamine, arginine, serine, threonine, valine, tryptophan and tyrosine. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 9 , wherein the at least one amino acid is at least one of glutamine, asparagine, valine or iso-leucine. 
     
     
       11. The method of  claim 1 , wherein determining the increase or decrease in concentration of at least one amino acid comprises utilizing a group of amino acids comprising two to seven amino acids, whose amino acid turnover is indicative of the ability of a mammalian egg to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage for that species. 
     
     
       12. A method of determining a profile to select a mammalian egg with increased ability to fertilize and/or develop to a blastocyst stage, said method comprising:
 (i) incubating a mammalian egg in a culture medium comprising a plurality of amino acids; 
 (ii) determining an increase and/or decrease in concentration of at least one amino acid in the culture medium to determine amino acid turnover; 
 (iii) assessing the ability of the mammalian egg to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage; and 
 (iv) correlating amino acid turnover of the mammalian egg with the ability of the mammalian egg to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage. 
 
     
     
       13. A method of using a profile to select a mammalian egg with increased ability to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage, said method comprising:
 (i) incubating a mammalian egg in a culture medium comprising a plurality of amino acids; 
 (ii) determining an increase and/or decrease in concentration of at least one amino acid in the culture medium to determine amino acid turnover to generate a profile; 
 (iii) comparing the amino acid turnover profile of the incubated mammalian egg with the amino acid turnover of a mammalian egg known to have the ability to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage; and 
 (iv) selecting a mammalian egg in the culture medium of step (ii) that has an increased potential to fertilize and/or develop to the blastocyst stage based on the compared amino acid profile of the incubated mammalian egg.